Sunday, May 22, 2011

I am hoping that I can FINALLY get into the groove and have this blog all updated in the next week!! So with that in mind ... I am so excited for this post!!

Welcome to my memories of one of the BEST vacations of my life. Tracy and we so blessed to be able to spend 12 wonderful days together in Europe in November.

Germany, Austria, and Italy with an evening drive through the Alps in Switzerland!!Our first stop and meeting point was Frankfurt, Germany. We immediately fell in love with the small "Mom and Pop" type restaurants and pubs. Most definitely the best food and the best atmosphere!

Just like eating in Mom's kitchen!

The first time we stopped at a rest stop we were a little surprised to have to pay to even get in. Then after I decided that it was well worth it! In Germany these restrooms have ... get ready for this ... SELF CLEANING TOILETS!! I can tell you that I would be happy to pay to use a restroom at rest stops it I knew that the toilet was CLEAN!!!

We loved this little neighborhood right in the heart of Frankfurt. How cute it was in the middle of all these high rises!

Even when it is necessary to upgrade and add space they keep the history too. This is the train station in Frankfurt, and the front part is the old station that is obviously too small, so a solution? Just add an ultra modern station addition in the back!

I LOVE THIS GUY!! Two whole weeks of heaven just hanging out, walking hand in hand, and falling deeper in love!

Old town Frankfurt along the Rhin River

Street performers

Beautiful window boxes

Old city walls/gates

Parking on the sidewalk. Streets are old and narrow so ... street parking = sidewalk parking!

Tracy's new favorite! Like a Euro, but bigger!

Parks along the Rhin River

Shopping! I think this was a rare thing. Tracy actually enjoying shopping with me!

Loved the green shutters!

Heidelberg, Germany

Tracy and I fell in LOVE with this city!

This is what you get when your hubby designs custom homes. A lot of pictures of architectural elements. OK, so I loved these windows too!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Our next stop was in Munich. In hind site I am grateful that it was COLD and rainy when we were in Munich because it sort of forced our hand into taking a bus tour of the city. This was the only city that we did that in and I was grateful because it was not my favorite of the places we visited. I loved the history of it and it was cool to go wander through the Royal Residence but it was definitely the best way for me to see Munich.

There was the bonus of snuggling up with each other and hot chocolate too!!

Beautiful church with the twin bell towers!

A model of the Royal Residence. It was so big that it was nice to have this to look at and try to get your barrings on where you were!

Main Hall

Chapel in the RR. It was badly damaged in WWII. You can see the line of new bricks where the roof had to be rebuilt.

Before and after pictures of the chapel

Lunch at the HaufBraunHaus

The Alps between Austria and Italy

(out of order)

Saltz River in Salzberg, Austria

Mozart's first violin

We took this scary looking ride up the side of the cliff to get to the fortress at the top. Once you were inside it wasn't as scary as it looked, but when you were at the bottom looking up it was a bit daunting!!

The view from the top was AMAZING! The whole city laid out at your feet!!

We took the "Sound of Music" tour while we were in Salzburg. It was a fun tour and we enjoyed seeing all the sights from the movie as well as about an hour of driving through some of the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen!

This house was used in the movie for all the scenes that were outside. The lunch of the terrace and the kids falling in the lake.

The gazebo from "Sixteen Going of Seventeen", and "Something Good". It used to be on the grounds of the house above but they had a problem with people jumping the fences and walls to take pictures so they moved it to a public park.

The Abby is still a working nunnery so they were not allowed to film the wedding there, (that is where the Captain and Maria were really married) they went about an hour outside the city to this chapel and filmed the wedding here. I thought it was one of the most beautiful churches we saw on our trip.

It was fun to go to the Christmas shops in the city centers. These shops literally get set up and stocked one day and open the next. It was so much fun to get the kids Christmas ornaments from each of the countries that we visited.

This giant chess set with the old men hanging out playing made me giggle. I could just imagine the conversation before this picture... "Well dear, when you are done with your shopping you can find me OVER THERE!"

How romantic can you get? A horse drawn carriage ride through the beautiful city of Salzburg! I can't believe what a lucky girl I am to have this amazing man to share my life with! 16 years and more in love than I can possibly express!!!

Vicenza, Italy

This park was so cool. What would it be like to be able to wake up, go out on your terrace and look out on this?

This is a cannon ball still stuck in the wall from Napoleon'sinvasion of Vicenza.

City center, they were stringing Christmas lights from the bell tower!

GELATO

Real Italian pizza .... so good!

Venis, Italy

My two goofy companions in Italy!! Tracy, being his usual charming self, and Scott. Scott worked with Tracy and lives in Italy. It was nice to have someone that knows his way around and speaks Italian. We had such a great time staying with Scott and Bonnie, it was sad that she had a stress fracture in her foot and wasn't able to join us for most of our outings.

More Venis!!

Piazzade San Marco (The Plaza San Marco) with the Basilicade San Marco in the background.

The Rialto Bridge in Venis! SOOO cool.

Verona, Italy

This is Juliet's balcony in Verona

statue of Juliet

The courtyard by her blacony.

The Alps on our way through Switzerland back into Germany.

Heidelburg, Germany again. We fell in love with this city on our way through the first time, so we decided that it would be a wonderful way to end our trip together.

View from our hotel room.

We splurged and got the suite in this charming hotel in the city center. That is me in the top window!! The views were spectacular!

About Me

I have been married for 16 years to Tracy, we have three kids, Caroline 13, Hunter 11, Abigail 9. I work at my kid's school and I love being involved. I have a great husband who spoils me rotten. Our life is a little bit of a zoo but we love it.